Old bosses and ax murders

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Today is National Boss Day. It's a day when workers are supposed to let their bosses know how much they are appreciated.But what if you don't like your boss? A bad boss can be the deciding factor when a good employee finally decides to quit. That's according to a survey conducted by the International Association of Administrative Professionals headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. There were 816 administrative professionals who were surveyed.Having a bad boss would be the most important factor in a decision to leave a job, 45 percent of those surveyed said. Others - 32 percent - said they'd leave if better employment opportunities opened up elsewhere.Bosses are more than just a boss, because employees spend so much time with them and co-workers. More time than they spend with their families, said Susan Fenner, education and professional development manager at IAAP."Having a good boss is not just a matter of worker satisfaction; it's a matter of efficiently coping in uncertain times," Fenner said.When I worked on another newspaper in another city, one of my supervisors, an assistant city editor, got depressed when it was a slow news day and nothing interesting was happening.By the end of the day, if it looked like early story ideas for the next paper didn't look more promising, he got irritated. He walked around the newsroom and grumbled. He carried [a metal pica ruler (a what?)][1] in one hand and swung it like a pendulum."What we need is a good ax murder tonight," he would mutter.This editor was among the last of an old breed of newspaper men. He sometimes called female reporters "babe." He said it in a nice way. As far as I know none of them complained. He came from an era when reporters and editors smoked in the newsroom and a few even hid bottles of their favorite "spirits" in their desks.This was an editor who hated computers. He spent most of his career banging out stories with two fingers on typewriters. He often said that on his last day when he retired he was going to buy his computer, carry it up to the roof and drop it to the sidewalk.Retirement day came but that did not happen.This was an editor who kept things interesting. R.I.P.Now it's your turn. In the space below tell us about one of your bosses. If it's a horror story don't be vindictive and no names, please. The online gods are watching. [1]: http://www.caprockdev.com/images/612b.jpg